Rockets’ Lee closer to returning to action

Rockets guard Courtney Lee missed his seventh consecutive game with a strained right calf Saturday night.

But for the first time since the injury Jan. 3, trainer Keith Jones said it is possible Lee could play as soon as the next game, Monday afternoon in Washington.

Lee has gone through rigorous pregame workouts before the past two games. His availability will depend on how he reacts to the workouts and the flight to Washington.

“I had to teach myself how to walk, how to run, how to do everything again,” Lee, 26, said. “The muscle was so weak. It went from me not being able to walk off the court when I got injured, to me not being able to walk normal,to me being able to walk normal, to me not being able to walk without the pain to me being able to walk now without the pain.

“I’m now able to take strides, run. When I can do what they ask me to do without pain, I’m playing.

“It’s not even pain. It’s like a bite. When I get out there without that, I’m going.”

Bickerstaffs keep job, kin separate

With the Rockets’ first meeting with the Trail Blazers since the coaching change, Rockets assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff had another chance to coach against his father Bernie, a longtime NBA coach now an assistant with the Blazers.

“I told his mom, if she’s rooting for him, he’s got a room in the house waiting because she has to move,” Bernie Bickerstaff said. “It’s family trash talk, and you know how moms are about their sons.

“He’s a good guy and he’s with a good guy, Kevin McHale, a really bright guy that’s done it.

“We do talk a lot of noise. From 7 to 9:30, he’s like any other guy. He’s an adversary.”

Bernie Bickerstaff returned to coaching in his son’s second season as a Timberwolves assistant as an assistant in Chicago. After two seasons with the Bulls, Bernie Bickerstaff moved to Portland.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Bernie Bickerstaff said. “We were together for three years in Charlotte. This is the fourth year we’ve been going after one another.